ven to Rozenn. The
slighted Margared in revenge betrays her father's city to Karnac, the
defeated enemy of her country, giving him the keys of the sluices which
protect the town from the sea. Karnac opens the sluices and the tide
rushes in. The town and its people are on the point of being
overwhelmed, when Margared, stricken by remorse, throws herself into the
waters. St. Corentin, the patron saint of Ys, accepts the sacrifice, and
the sea retires. 'Le Roi d'Ys' is an excellent specimen of the kind of
opera which French composers of the second rank used to write before the
sun of Wagner dawned upon their horizon. It is redolent of Meyerbeer and
Gounod, and though some of the scenes are not without vigour, it is
impossible to avoid feeling that in 'Le Roi d'Ys' Lalo was forcing a
graceful and delicate talent into an uncongenial groove. He is at his
best in the lighter parts of the work, such as the pretty scene of
Rozenn's wedding, which is perfectly charming. Emmanuel Chabrier
(1842-1894), after writing a comic opera of thoroughly Gallic _verve_
and grace, 'Le Roi malgre lui,' announced himself as a staunch adherent
of Wagner in the interesting but unequal 'Gwendoline,' which was
performed at Brussels in 1886. Benjamin Godard (1849-1895), one of the
most prolific of modern composers, won no theatrical success until the
production of 'La Vivandiere' (1895), an attractive work constructed
upon conventional lines, in which the banality of the material employed
is often redeemed by clever treatment. Emile Paladilhe won a brilliant
success in 1886 with 'Patrie,' and among other meritorious composers of
what may be called the pre-Wagnerian type are Victorin Joncieres
(1839-1903) and Thodeore Dubois.

Of living French composers Camille Saint Saens is the unquestioned head,
but he is known to fame principally by his successes in the
concert-room. Many of his operas achieved only _succes d'estime_, though
not one of them is without beauty of a high order. Over 'La Princesse
Jaune' (1872) and 'Le Timbre d' Argent' (1877) there is no need to
linger. 'Samson et Dalila,' his first work of importance, was produced
at Weimar in 1877, but, in spite of its success there and in other
German towns, did not find its way on to a Parisian stage until 1890.
The libretto follows the Biblical narrative with tolerable fidelity. In
the first act, Samson rouses the Israelites to arms, kills the
Philistine leader and disperses their army. In the s